the effects of cellphones on driving ability
THE INFLUENCE OF CELLPHONES ON DRIVING ABILITY
October 15, 2013
A study was performed to see if the use of cellphones increases the inability to focus while behind the wheel. With the addition of earlier research, the authors of this study stated that they believe there is a direct association between cellphone use and attention. The first objective of the experiment was to use a driving simulator to recreate and elaborate on prior research; this was demonstrated in Experiment 1 (Strayer, Drews, & Johnston, 2003). In Experiment 1, the dependent variable is the driving ability of the participant which is being measured by brake onset time, brake offset time, time to reach minimum speed and following distance. The independent variable was the dual-task condition which was talking on the phone while driving the simulation car (Strayer et al. 2003).
The participants in the experiment included forty undergraduates from the University of Utah. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 32, all had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and a valid Utah driver’s license. The participants began the experiment by taking a questionnaire asking them which topics they would be interested in conversing about on the cell phone. Next, they entered a driving simulation car with the instructions to follow a pace car set in front of them. Each participant drove four 10-mile lengths of a multilane highway in the simulation car. Whenever the participant braked in response to the pace car in front of them braking, the pace car released the brake and proceeded to accelerate to an average highway speed. However, if the participant neglected to brake at all, he or she would eventually run into the back of the pace car in front of them. The purpose of this was to simulate the day to day highway stop-and-go traffic that people face, typically on their commute to work. The participant was expected to react efficiently to vehicles slowing down in front of
October 15, 2013
A study was performed to see if the use of cellphones increases the inability to focus while behind the wheel. With the addition of earlier research, the authors of this study stated that they believe there is a direct association between cellphone use and attention. The first objective of the experiment was to use a driving simulator to recreate and elaborate on prior research; this was demonstrated in Experiment 1 (Strayer, Drews, & Johnston, 2003). In Experiment 1, the dependent variable is the driving ability of the participant which is being measured by brake onset time, brake offset time, time to reach minimum speed and following distance. The independent variable was the dual-task condition which was talking on the phone while driving the simulation car (Strayer et al. 2003).
The participants in the experiment included forty undergraduates from the University of Utah. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 32, all had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and a valid Utah driver’s license. The participants began the experiment by taking a questionnaire asking them which topics they would be interested in conversing about on the cell phone. Next, they entered a driving simulation car with the instructions to follow a pace car set in front of them. Each participant drove four 10-mile lengths of a multilane highway in the simulation car. Whenever the participant braked in response to the pace car in front of them braking, the pace car released the brake and proceeded to accelerate to an average highway speed. However, if the participant neglected to brake at all, he or she would eventually run into the back of the pace car in front of them. The purpose of this was to simulate the day to day highway stop-and-go traffic that people face, typically on their commute to work. The participant was expected to react efficiently to vehicles slowing down in front of